The Battle of Manhattan
by SonOfAthena99
Summary: Part One of the Silver Series trilogy. Follow Elijah, an undetermined Hermes camper, as he fights the Battle of Manhattan from the front line. I do not own PJO (do I need to really say it?) Also, note that after BoO, my story(ies) divert from the original canon timeline set by ToA (Trials of Apollo) and GoA (Gods of Asgard)
1. Setting The Stage

Elijah sat in the dark trailer, nothing for lighting, save for the dim glow of the Celestial Bronze weapons around him. They were on their way from Camp Half-Blood, on the Long Island Sound, to the entrance to Olympus, known to the mortal world as the Empire State Building, to defend it from the armies of Kronos, and protect the whole of Western Civilization. He had only personally been to Olympus thrice, the last time being three months prior, during the Summer Solstice, when the camp takes a sort of field trip to the Olympian Counsel meeting.

Despite being a relatively new camper, with only a year and a half of camp time under his belt, Elijah was an excellent swordsman, and fighter in general. He wasn't nearly as good as Percy or Luke, but he was pretty up there. He was as talented as the Ares campers, but without their aggression and arrogance, and as intelligent and witty as the Athena kids, but he didn't quite fit the outward profile of blonde hair and grey eyes. His hair color was a dark black, and his eyes were an icy blue. His skin was rather pale, though he did have an athletic build, but everyone at camp shared that.

As the truck bounced along, he looked around the inside of the trailer. There was about twenty demigods in this one, give or take, and the other one had roughly the same amount. Forty was no army, but it was better than no one at all guarding the heart of the Western world, and better than forcing the younger ones to fight who didn't want to, or would just get themselves hurt or killed. The youngest ones are all at Camp, doing gods-know-what.

He looked around again, wondering who he would see after today, assuming he makes it, himself. He wondered how many of them had the gut -or the arm, for that matter- to manage against an army of monsters from the deepest pits of the Underworld, and the farthest corners of the Earth. He wondered how far these fellow demigods were willing to go to protect their life, their home, Hades, the very essence of civilization, itself. Would they be willing to kill for it all, even the traitors whom they had once possibly called 'friend'?

He was shaken from these thoughts as the truck came to a stop. He got up and stretched, and the back hatch opened, letting in the blinding rays of sunlight. One by one, the campers filed out of the trailer and gathered in a crude semi-circle at the base of the Empire State Building. In the center of the gathering, stood Chiron the Centaur, the camp's teacher, as well as the two heroes of Camp Half-Blood: Annabeth Chase and Percy Jackson, in the flesh, although they weren't quite as glorious as the tales tell.

Percy was slightly shorter than Annabeth, although his wild jet black hair might deceive one into believing they're the same height. He had a wild, intense look in his sea-green eyes, along with the sense that he's had one too many Monsters, though that may just be because all demigods are hyperactive (though some more than others). The shirt he was wearing was tattered and ripped, as though it was on a hellhound's chew toy (which is a reasonable possibility, given he has one as a pet), but the man -well, teenager- himself was without a scratch, and his jeans were faded and in decent condition, though sporting minor tears.

Annabeth stood tall and proud, and suited for battle. Her armour was perfectly adjusted, and well kept. A dagger was strapped to her right thigh, and helmet was pressed between her side and left elbow. Her right arm held a leather bag with a silver laptop and ambrosia squares inside, and a canister of nectar in the bottle holder. Her golden hair blew in the wind, and her storm grey eyes scanned the crowd of demigods, as if mentally assessing them, another reasonable possibility, given her mother is the Goddess of Wisdom and Battle Strategy, Athena.

The two of them exchanged words briefly, before saying some to Chiron. Percy looked slightly distressed, before Chiron spoke loud enough that the campers could hear over the awkward shuffling of the armoured demigods and the buzz of Manhattan. "Meanwhile, you called the campers here, Percy. You are their leader," he said, and the campers looked to Percy. He looks over these faces of those he calls friends and brothers and sisters in arms, and it seems to confirm something in his heart.

He leads them into the building, and, after words with the security guard, he leads half into the elevator that leads to the six hundredth floor -to Olympus. The other half would have to come up a second trip. Elijah was part of the second group. Both the wait and the ride up were extremely awkward, and the cheesy and ironic elevator music didn't help.

When the doors opened to Olympus, the breath was stolen from every camper that laid eyes on the majestic, beautiful, impossible scene before them. Suspended where the six hundredth floor would hypothetically be, spread out an impossibly beautiful landscape. Massive Ancient Greek temples and buildings in their prime and pristine state, and a long and winding stone road leading to the biggest and grandest building of all, the demigods walked the road, usually beautiful and alive, with nymphs, spirits, and minor gods and goddesses, but was now sullen and eerily empty.

Inside, they were confronted by a young girl at the fire. She said something that the campers could have sworn was along the lines of 'the curse of Achilles' to Percy, but it wasn't clear enough, due to her quiet tone, and it didn't make sense. The girl says something about 'knowing your enemy,' and Percy stumbles. Then he asks Annabeth, who caught him, how long he was out.

Before things could get too awkward, Hermes materializes. Some of the campers are in awe, which isn't surprising, considering he's, well, the God of Messengers, Travelers, Thieves, and so on, but not everyone is impressed.

Elijah, for example, is less than happy with the god. Yeah, he's a god, but he is not exactly the most attentive person. More than half in his cabin are unclaimed, and can't help but feel resentment and bitterness, because they feel as if they don't belong. That's why a lot of the undetermined Hermes campers left to join Luke's side in the war; he promised to tear down the inattentive, unloving, self-important so-called 'gods', who either ignored their children, or sent them on suicide missions.

Percy sends all the campers out to "check defenses," a task which Connor and Travis Stoll, the counselor brothers of the Hermes Cabin, take with pride.

About an hour and a half later, while the sky was glowing purple with the setting sun, Elijah finds himself on Fourth Avenue, en route to the Brooklyn Bridge. After his meeting with the Messenger God, and everyone regrouping on the road just outside the Palace, the forty demigods discovered silence. Complete, encompassing silence around the whole of Manhattan. The whole island was asleep. The invasion had started, and the campers were spread to various bridges to defend, and half of Hermes got Brooklyn. Their first sign of trouble was at the corner of Foley Square and Centre Street.


	2. Action!

They turned onto the quiet street, surrounded by cars and sleeping pedestrians. Then, they heard it. A slight scraping, like dragging a knife against rocks, so faint, they weren't even sure they heard it. Then they heard the perfect pace of an army marching in synch. A few Hermes kids sprung into action, hiding behind cars like some cheesy action or spy movie as they strafed stealthily. They made it to a court yard just outside the Brooklyn Bridge City Hall, and hid in the hedges. Then, they saw them. The army.

Marching towards them, the first line _dracanae,_ snake women who, from the waist up, look like women with green, scaly skin, and yellow, reptilian eyes, but below the waist, instead of legs, they have massive snake bodies they use to almost walk with. They're armed with javelins and small oval shields that bear the symbol of Kronos, marching in a phalanx formation; shields locked and spears out, making an impenetrable wall that only the best of archers, the most well-placed bombs, and the bravest of demigods could break. Behind them, two lines of giant Cyclopes, one-eyed humanoid beasts, averaging at least ten feet tall, with enough strength to smash through one of the buildings with ease, wearing crude chain mail and carrying clubs the size of trees, crude swords sharp and strong enough to cut through the supports of the very bridge they were marching on, and battle axes as large as the cars around them. At the back of the army, several hellhounds prowled eagerly, dying to get some new 'chew toys'.

Several Hermes campers paled at the sight, but Elijah grinned. He was something of a hyper active adrenaline junkie, even for demigods, and he couldn't wait to try out his pack of Greek fire bombs that were in his enchanted satchel that made it bigger on the inside on the approaching phalanx. He motioned to Travis, who was led the cabin to the bridge, and he pulled out one bomb. If they messed up, it would get pretty ugly, pretty fast. Then again, it's going to get ugly, period, regardless if the plan goes smoothly, which almost never happens for demigods.

He tossed a bomb to Travis, then motioned to one of the cars that the phalanx would have to go through to advance. Travis stealthily went about planting the bomb, while Elijah did the same to a spot on the street lane divider. The plan was, when the phalanx got to the cars, the bombs would go off simultaneously, taking out most of the line, and scattering the rest, which could also be taken out by shrapnel or flying glass or weapons.

The rest of the Hermes hid in buildings along the street, waiting for the explosive cue. The army was closing in, and Travis was done, but Elijah was having a little trouble with his. Not because he didn't know how to work it, but he was trying to attach it to a trip wire, to make a more devastating explosion, since they'd have to walk right by it to detonate it. Thing is, the wire didn't want to attach, and he really didn't have time to put it together properly. By the time he got past the first half of the task, the army was almost on top of the cars. He quickly wired and placed it, then ducked behind one of the pillars of the City Hall building. Not a second later, he heard explosions, and debris flew everywhere. A helmet had even embedded itself in the wall across from his hiding spot.

He heard screams and windows shattering, and peered around the pillar. The army was in disarray, and, it was in this chaos, that Elijah snuck from his hiding spot. There were several little fires burning, some on flailing _dracanae._ He locked eyes with Travis across the street, and motioned that this was supposed to be the part where they begin to kill the everything. He drew his sword, which he had dubbed " _Lepída_ ," and entered the chaotic fray.

His first targets were those that remained of the phalanx. Thankfully, that wasn't many, though it would be if they stopped running and reformed the line. He stabbed one relatively fine one through the back, her shriek alerting the others of his presence, before she exploded into the sulfuric dust that monsters turn into upon death. One Cyclops swung his excessively large club at Elijah, and he rolled out of the way just in time, slicing the brute's calf as he goes by, causing it to fall to one knee. As he's about to strike a finishing blow, another grabs him by the neck and pins him against the wall, making his vision blur. The Cyclops pulls his weapon arm back, and Elijah shuts his eyes, awaiting the blow.

Then Travis and the rest of the half of Hermes came out of hiding, effectively saving Elijah's hide, since a throwing knife goes straight through the Cyclops' throat, pouring blood and dust from the wound, and he drops both his weapon and his quarry, clutching at his neck before bursting into dust, as well. Elijah takes a second to breathe, before rolling to his fallen sword, picking it up and thrusting it into the chest of a nearby _dracanae,_ the last of the line, as the Hermes Cabin made short work of the other scrambling snake-women. Now onto the close to twenty Cyclopes, and the five or so hellhounds.

Lanie, one of the Hermes girls with an exceptional talent for archery, sent an arrow straight between the eyes of a hellhound, and then another into the knee of a Cyclops, and Elijah sliced it's throat as he ran at the commander, a taller Cyclops with a battleaxe and proper armor, and a single red eye full of hate and bloodlust. Normally, this would be suicide, but, despite looking like he could pick up a full size house and toss it across a football field, his cumbersome armor and unnecessarily large battleaxe slowed him down immensely.

Elijah rolled under the swing of the battleaxe, and between the Cyclops' legs, and stabbing at a weak point behind his knees. The monster staggered, before whipping the handle of the axe down, hitting Elijah's helmeted head and sending him skidding across the pavement. Thankfully, his armor was strong enough to keep his head from cracking like an egg, though he did get pretty dizzy, and it also protected him from serious injury while he tumbled across the road. He shook his head, and sensed a presence behind him. He turned quickly and found himself face to face with a sedan-sized hellhound, its red eyes fixed on him.

The hellhound tensed and pounced. Elijah rolled to the right, out of the way of the beast, and quickly stood, his sword in his hand. He dodged the second attack of the hellhound, and slices at it as it passes, and it explodes into dust and shadow with a yelp.

He sees in the reflection from the window in the shop in front of him the commander Cyclops, about to take off Elijah's head. He leaps back, towards the Cyclops, turning in air as he does. Just as he does this, the Cyclops swung his axe at where Elijah's head used to be. Elijah swings his sword at an unprotected part in the inside of the Cyclops' right elbow, the sharp blade of _Lepída,_ and the force of the Cyclops' swinging combining to sever its right arm completely off at the elbow. The Cyclops yelled in pain and anger, and the axe flew from the Cyclops' left hand, cutting entirely through a hellhound and embedding itself in the chest of another Cyclops (the only remaining, thanks to the efficient work of the Hermes Cabin), and the commander sank to his knees, defeated.

Satisfied, Elijah took off its head and turned to the force. He saw a shadow move, and threw _Lepída_ in its direction, hard, sending the bronze blade hurdling tip over handle towards the hellhound as it came out of the shadow travel, catching it in the chest before it could attack anyone.


	3. And Scene

_Hey, guys! sorry for the late update. If you hadn't known, I'm trying to update every Monday, and this is being uploaded Tuesday, at_ Nine in the Afternoon _. I got caught up with... stuff, yesterday. But, here it is! The new chapter for_ The Battle of Manhattan _! So, read, review, and enjoy! ~SoA_

* * *

No one had died, thankfully, yet surprisingly, although most were injured, ranging from scrapes or minor cuts, to serious gashes. Travis had a few shallow cuts, but was otherwise fine. Lanie had a nasty looking gash on her arm, and was walking with a limp. Elijah had some scrapes from his numerous slides on the road, as well as a cut from a shard of glass, and a sharp pain in his leg from a glass shard that had embedded itself in his thigh.

Elijah bent down with slight difficulty, grabbed his cell phone from his bag that was resting on his thigh, and pulled out the glass as he stood up. Technically, he wasn't supposed to have one, but he had commissioned it from Beckendorf, one of the first fatalities of the war, before he died, to layer the phone in Celestial Bronze, which would keep the phone from broadcasting his demigodishness across the universe to any nearby monsters. Checking the time, Elijah discovered it was a mere hour after they had arrived at City Hall.

"Okay," he says to the half of the Hermes Cabin. "We're going to have to make what we can out of this position. We should take advantage of City Hall, here. Street cameras, first aid kits, whatever we can find. We should split up, a couple search parties taking different wings and floors of City Hall, while someone can tend to wounds in the lobby, and someone light on their feet can be a look out, just outside, behind the pillars."

"Who put you in charge?" one of the other Hermes kids, a jerk who really needs to be put in his place named Devon, calls out from the back.

Elijah looked like he was about to personally walk over to Devon and show him the literal definition of the phrase 'foot in mouth,' as he simply wasn't in the mood to argue with a two-year-old with the body of a teenage football player, when Travis came forward.

"Percy put me in charge to lead us to the Brooklyn Bridge. Well, we're here, and that first wave wasn't so bad. But it could have been. If it wasn't for Elijah, we might not have gotten away as easily as we did. So you need to listen to him, and me, and that is both general and counselor's orders," Travis says.

"Thank you, Travis," Elijah says with a nod. "Now, as I was saying, we need someone to tend to wounds in the lobby, and someone to stand as a look out here, at least until we can get the street cams working and projecting. We'll need a couple teams to search the different wings and floors for whatever we might be able to use. Travis is going to split you into your teams while I check in with Annabeth," Elijah says, before walking away, and Travis starts sectioning the kids.

The phone rang twice before Annabeth answered. "Who and where are you? We'll try to be there as soon as possible," her voice said, tired and ragged.

"It's Elijah from Cabin Eleven, stationed at the Brooklyn Bridge. We're not in trouble, I was just communicating that we've cleared the first wave, and are setting up a base in City Hall, until re-stationed or falling back."

"Alri- PERCY, YOU IDIOT, GET DOWN!" Annabeth yelled, her phone still to her face, followed by the sound of an explosion. "Hold down the fort. We'll circle around, eventually, at least to see whatever you might need help with," she says.

"Okay," Elijah says, before ending the call and heading back to where he left the Hermes Cabin.


	4. Cease Fire

Once he got there, he found Travis and another Hermes kid, John, standing guard. Travis nods in greeting, and steps from his posting. He says something to John, probably telling him to stay put and keep watch, and walks out to Elijah.

"Well? Is the cavalry coming?" Travis asked, walking along with Elijah.

"They don't need to. At least not now. They're eventually going to circle around to us, but we aren't on their priority list, right now."

"Well, I've got people doing as you asked inside. Devon is leading the West Wing team, Jeremy is sweeping the East Wing, Alexander is tending to the wounds, and I've got a team trying to hack into the street cams," Travis said, as they went through the entry doors to City Hall.

"You guys work fast," Elijah said, whistling through his teeth, as he sees the makeshift med-bay Alex set up in the lobby. The half-blood, himself, is currently wrapping Lanie's arm in cloth.

"Bonus of being both a lot, and being the children of the fastest god. And Alex is a great worker. Very determined. Any place you'd like to help out in?"

"I'd like to play with the encryptions, see if I can't crack them, and hopefully get something on these scrapes," Elijah says, referring to the shallow cuts on his legs thanks to flying across pavement and getting impaled with glass shards.

"Can you wrap yourself up? Because he's kinda busy," Travis says.

"Usually, but not in that position. They're too far down to effectively wrap. Of course, I can do it later, but I do want to take my armor off. It'll make walking and breathing easier, and I can put it back on quickly."

"Whatever you say, man. Just be quick. I'm not comfortable hanging in the same spot for long."

"Bah, that's the half-blood in you," Elijah says as he takes off his breastplate and helmet, moving to his braces. "Especially the blood of the God of Thieves." He removes the pieces of armor, and moves finally to his greaves.

"True, but still. We are kinda in a war."

"Fair enough. Now, show me to this encryption cracking team," Elijah says, pulling a rolling suitcase from his satchel, and carefully putting his armor in it, and then he pulls out a fancy kind of cane.

Travis sighed, rolling his eyes. "Do I even want to ask why you have a pimp cane in that Hermione bag of yours?"

"First, it's not a pimp cane. Second, pimp canes are cool and flashy. Now lead the way, Mr. T," Elijah says, chuckling, and following the face palming Travis, leaning slightly on his cane and carrying his suitcase behind him.

They made it to the room where James, another unclaimed Hermes camper, was working with some of the other, less reputable Hermes kids to try to hack into the street cameras. When Travis and Elijah walked in, most stood in respect. Well, all except for James. He was too busy rewriting code and countering defenses to notice.

"What's the situation?" Travis asks.

"So far, we've got nothing. None of our attempts have yielded anything. He was our last resort. We should've used him earlier. He's lasting longe-" an assuming Hermes camper named Leonardo started, but was cut off by James's shout of frustration.

"I was _so_ close!" he says. "I could almost taste it!" he laments, throwing himself back in the black office chair.

"Maybe I can give it a shot?" Elijah offers.

"Knock yourself out," James says, standing from the chair, and Elijah sat in his stead. "It's quite tricky. I honestly don't know how I got as far as I did, looking back at it. My fingers seemed to be working on their own."

Just as Elijah was about to start, a shout was heard through the entirety of the City Hall. A call to arms. Elijah stood quickly, wincing due to his leg injury, but ignored the pain and proceeded to quickly strap on his armor, as Travis shouted to the other occupants in the room to hurry downstairs, and prepare to defend the Hall, and push back the oncoming monsters.

* * *

 _Hey, guys! Long time, no see. Sorry, I've been writing. Both this and_ A Hero's Tears _. I've got lots of plans and chapters planned, and it's gonna be great._

 _~SoA_


	5. Once More Unto the Breach

Elijah slid down the railing of the stairs, wincing again as he landed. His legs were definitely not happy with how active he was. But he needed to do all he could to defend Manhattan.

He drew _Lepída_ , and ventured out past the glass doors. Though he couldn't see them, he could feel the ground shake as the opposing army marched toward the City Hall building. He was unsure how they'd fend off this wave, seeing as how it feels a thousand times larger, when he saw something. A glint in the clouds, but he wasn't sure he saw correctly, given the whole sky is pitch dark. It's probably somewhere from ten thirty to eleven at night. Kronos is probably screwing with time, because it doesn't seem like it's been that long.

His thoughts were forced away from whatever he might've seen in the clouds, as he caught glimpse of the first line. A full line of Cyclopes led the army, followed by two lines of _telekhines_ , wolf-like sea demons, three lines of Laistrygonian Giants -hairy, cannibalistic giants averaging eight to ten feet, and armed with explosive bronze wiffle-balls the size of cannonballs- an innumerable amount of _dracanae_ , and five Hyperborean Giants, giant frosty humanoids, as tall as the buildings around them, armed with literal huge oak trees that might've been ripped straight from their roots.

 _Too late to set Greek fire traps…_ Elijah thinks. Not that they'd do much, anyway. Most of this force is immune to fire, due to their working in the forges of Tartarus, or living in volcanoes.

He hears something, and he turns to see the Hermes force standing, practically shaking in their armor, a look of pure terror on their faces. And who's to blame them? Elijah'd be lying if he said he wasn't scared. But he was ready to die, with the consolation that he'd be going to Elysium, a reward for fighting and dying heroically in this war to protect the gods.

He wasn't going to make a heroic rallying speech. He didn't want to tell these teenagers behind him that they'd emerge victorious, so long as they fought hard and well. He wasn't going to tell such a blatant lie. They couldn't win. He didn't usually believe in impossibilities, or hopeless situations, but this was definitely an exception. And there wasn't a thing he could do.

So, instead of a speech, Elijah simply raised his sword, and took on a mask of courage. The other campers seemed encouraged, themselves, and they, too, raised their arms, some even shouting approvingly. This last act of courage would spark a fire within these campers' souls and spirits, and whatever was about to happen would be remembered as the three hundred Spartans facing off against some one hundred thousand Persians in the Battle of Thermopylae.

The wave of red hot courage even spread to the other side, making the first enemy line falter slightly. A warm breeze that carried the scent of iron or copper swept across the battlefield, and the Hermes side was instantly healed of any physical injuries they may have acquired in the previous battle, from Elijah's legs, to Lanie's arm. It also filled them with strength, and a sense of peace, and they all knew, in that moment, they would die, but were comforted in the reassuring fact that they would go down swinging, and would achieve Elysium, on top of that. And that's all a Greek really wants.

Then they charge. The entire Hermes side simultaneously attacks, as if driven by some hive mind. The archers let loose arrow after arrow, hitting chinks perfectly, taking down multiple monsters at a time, focusing mainly on the Hyperboreans.

Elijah and the other charging demigods hit the Cyclopes just as the second Ice Giant fell, crushing multiple monsters, and sending devastating shards of ice everywhere. The demigods ducked, sliced, dodged, and stabbed at the Cyclopes, who were trying to get a good visual and stumbling as they did, sometimes onto other monsters, shocked by the flat out suicidal rush of the campers. Soon, the third Giant went down, and several more monsters died. But it still wasn't enough.

Whatever magic or blessing or whatever that had possessed them was starting to wear off. But just as they were starting to tire, shouts of pain and death started to emit from the other end of the army. Monsters were just exploding into dust with no explanation. Then Elijah saw the elegant, sleek, black pegasus, moving almost too fast for him to observe. Upon its back was seated Percy Jackson, battered, but excited, and, though Elijah couldn't see it, pride shone greatly in the sea spawn's eyes. Then, it was gone.

Elijah shook it off, and went to strike at another Cyclops, but the energy boost was fading, and he wasn't quick enough to notice the club swinging at him until it was too late. He flew into the air, unscathed by the club, due to the blessing of Ares that he didn't even know was on him, or even that it could be bestowed to any that wasn't a child of Ares. He could hypothetically be, given he was unclaimed, but Travis and Lanie both had the blessing, as well, so that's an invalid method of thinking.

He never made it to ground. He was caught by Percy and his pegasus, Blackjack. They dove down at impossible speeds, Blackjack kicking several Cyclopes out, before landing in the spot in front of the clashing forces. Both climbed off the horse, and he took off, going to bash more monster skulls in. Percy drew his sword, Riptide, and advanced on the monsters. Elijah was a few paces behind him, keeping sure to stay out of Riptide's reach.

Percy suddenly broke into a sprint as he neared the force, and slid baseball style into the fray, taking out several legs with his sword, the Campers making short work of the fallen enemy. He got right back up, and slammed into the Laistrygonian force, ending several as soon as he hit them. He grabbed a wiffleball, and launched it at a barrel of them, the whole thing going up in smoke, and all monsters within fifteen feet of the barrel were instantly vaporized, and several more were shredded with shrapnel.

He ran at the last remaining Ice Giant, then ran up it. Using his sword as a sort of climbing pick, Percy scaled the Giant in record time, while the Giant flailed about. Percy raised his sword, and sent it down, killing the Giant. The Giant became an ice sculpture of itself, before it exploded, ice impaling everyone nearby. That included Elijah, who was going blade to blade with a Cyclops.

Elijah was pierced in the stomach by a large shard of ice, about a foot and a half long. It went deep in him, and the pain was immense. His vision became clouded, before passing out from the pain.

Percy ran to his fallen comrade, killing the Cyclops before it could get the chance to deliver the final blow to Elijah as he lay on the pavement. His heart was lead, and the guilt was extreme. Percy quickly extracted the shard and put a sloppy bandage on the wound to help with the bleeding, and got Annabeth to take Elijah to the base the Camp had set up in a hotel for medical attention.

* * *

 _I'm still trying to get into a schedule, but three weeks was a long time to forsake it. Especially since I think I went over. But whatever._

 _Exciting announcement: You among my audience who fancy yourselves 'writers' get a chance to be recognized. Starting in June (and probably carrying over to July), the_scribes_of_querella on Instagram is hosting a contest. They'll post two prompts. Whoever sends in the best story of one of the two prompts not only get bragging rights and a shoutout, but they also get a free Twitter account. The only requirement is simply to DM the account your story. Personally, I suggest writing it in a notes or other writing app before sending it in, but that's me._

 _ANyway, until next time, and can't wait to see your stories._

 _~SoA_


	6. It Came In A Dream

Elijah was dreaming in his unconsciousness. In his dream, he was in a library. It was ancient and dusty, yet homey. He felt content here. He decided to browse the library, to see if there was anything worth reading, or possibly if there was another reason he was there. After skimming along the spines of the books, he found a collection of Edgar Allan Poe. Intrigue spiked, he picked it up.

"Ah," said a voice from behind him, causing Elijah to whip around. "Edgar Allan Poe, Master of the Short-Story"

"Yeah…" Elijah said somewhat cautiously.

The man was tall, wearing a black button shirt, the sleeves rolled up to reveal a tattoo on his right forearm that displayed one of those Greek drama masks and a fountain pen. His skin was rather pale, and his hair was messy and jet black, along with his beard, which was trimmed neatly, and his eyes, though as dark as everything else, held a curiosity and life he hadn't seen in many.

"Who are you?" Elijah asked after a couple seconds of silence.

"Oh, right. That might be important… I am Momus, God of Writers, Poets, Satire, and Criticism. But, more importantly, I am your father."

"Right. A primordial that hasn't been seen in millennia decides not only to show up now, but also happens to be my father," he says skeptically.

"Well, it's not my fault I was banned from Olympus and shamed because Zeus couldn't take some… er… 'constructive criticism'," the old god says. "But, that's not why I've come. You need to do a task for me. It could mean life or death, and my very existence depends on it," he says, though his voice lacked urgency.

"Waddya want, 'Dad''?" Elijah sarcastically says, rolling his eyes.

"I need you to take this," he says, putting his hand into his pants pocket and retrieving a black fountain pen, presenting it to Elijah, who just looked at him with raised eyebrows.

"Why? I mean, it's just a pen. An old pen, at that."

"This is more than a pen," Momus said, looking slightly offended. "This is your legacy. This is who you are. Oh, and it has magical properties that allow it to do extraordinary things, but that's beside the point."

"Well, if you give it to me in a dream, how will I have it when I wake up? Hades, how do I know this isn't just some weird dream?"

"Oh, it's a weird dream, alright. The weirdest. You're getting claimed, tattooed, and getting a gift all in one, all while you sleep."

"Wait, wait, wait… I'm getting inked?" Elijah asks, thrown off.

"Oh, yeah. It won't hurt. It's just my symbol on your forearm, so it is known who you really are."

Elijah falls into a nearby chair, his face in his hands. Momus drifts towards him.

"I know it's a lot to take in, but you must. Your siblings depend on it." "I've got siblings?"

"Two, as of now. One you're acquainted with, the other, not so much. But that doesn't matter. Their life and acceptance is now in your hands. Well, it's in mine, but you need to take it."

"Fine. I'll take your pen," Elijah says bitterly, snatching the fountain pen from his father and shoving it in his pocket.

The look his father gave him was one full of pain and sorrow. "Well," he started, his voice slightly cracking, and he cleared his throat. "Well, I guess I'll leave you to your Poe… And I'm sorry. For being distant, that is. I just hope my plan works…" The god turns on his heal, rolling his sleeves down and grabbing his coat from a coat rack, walking to the door of the ancient library.

Elijah, feeling somewhat confused, looked to the table next to the chair. There lies the thick black book of Poe's stories. He looks up at his father, who was looking at him from the door, almost studying him with a mournful look upon his face.

"Elijah," Momus says.

"Yeah, Dad?" Elijah replies, without the sarcasm from earlier.

"I know you probably don't realize or believe it, but I love you, and I've been watching over you. Something you should know, and I'm truly sorry I haven't been able to be present."

Elijah just nods cautiously. "I don't know you that well, right now, but you seem pretty cool. I'm proud you're my father, over all the Olympians, at least by the stories of you."

Momus looks pained at this, but nods in thanks, and leaves the bookstore.

Elijah, having nothing better to do, reads the complete collection of Edgar Allan Poe. And it's very thorough. He was starting to really like the dream's setting, when he was forced awake.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
 _So here's another chapter for_ The Battle of Manhattan _. Elijah's been claimed, he's got a tattoo, and he's got a new toy. And, yes, if you were wondering, Elijah's tattoo is the same as his father's (they got matching bff tats). Stay tuned for more of this, and, in about a month,_ A Hero's Tears _will be back on._  
 _Less pressing matters: To those who have Instagram and a creative mind,_ the_scribes_of_querella _on Instagram is hosting a contest featuring two prompts. Whoever writes the best piece for each respective prompt wins a free Twitter account and bragging rights. Just post your piece when you're done tagging them and the hashtag_ #ScribesOfQuerellaSummerContest _to enter. Good luck, and may the odds be ever in your favour!_

 _~SoA_


	7. Christmas Comes Early

Elijah shoots up in the bed in the makeshift medbay. He looks around as the other campers and occasional spirit, all staring at him, their mouths agape.

"What's with the dumb looks?" Elijah manages to say, glancing around, a slight pain in the back of his head, but, otherwise, nothing, which he found strange.

"You were d-dying…" says a voice right near him. He turns and looks to its owner, a blonde Apollo kid whose name escapes him. "But… your arm was glowing… and then you were claimed… I've never seen a mark like it… And then your wounds just started to knit themselves together on their own, and colour poured into your face outta nowhere."

"Yeah, knew all that," Elijah states nonchalantly, as if this happened every Tuesday. "His name is Momus, by the way. My father."

He grunted and sat up, digging his hand into his pocket, retrieving a black and silver fountain pen, the one that his father had given him. It hummed with a power that was begging to be activated. It didn't look that special. Well, at least not magically. It looked like it'd fetch a fortune on any mortal market. Before he could play with his new toy, he was jolted back to the war.

"Brooklyn?" he asks simply.

"Safe and defended," called a voice by the door. Percy Jackson's. "Annabeth flew you here while I cleaned up the army, with the help of the Hermes cabin. There were minor casualties, but more like just injuries. James is holding the fort, and Travis is getting patched up. Took a nasty arrow, but he'll be fine."

"Take me back," Elijah says, sitting up, swinging his legs over the edge of the bed.

"What? No!" the Apollo kid says.

"Why not?" Percy and Elijah ask at the same time.

"Well, um…" the Apollo kid nervously says.

"He's perfectly fine, now, and we need everyone we can get. And an open bed in here is an added bonus," Percy says.

"Well, yeah, but-" he starts again, but is cut off by Elijah.

"What's the point of keeping me here, wasting resources on me, when I could be out there, kicking monster tail, with no problem?"

The Apollo nurse hangs his head in defeat and makes a dismissing motion with his hand, before being rushed off to care for some more wounded campers.

Elijah stood up, and looked around. "Where's my sword?" Elijah asked Percy.

"It fell from your hand when the ice got you. I'm sure James found it; he had appointed a team to scavenge the area for weapons, armor, and supplies. Your armor's trashed, though. We can suit you up with a new set with a quick stop at Olympus. There's a forge that pumps out specially fit armor for any based on their battlefield presence; height, build, strength, preferred weapon, and so on."

"No time. At least, not for you to babysit me. You need to be out there. If you could get me a pegasus, though, it'd be appreciated. I'd be able to get armor and to Brooklyn faster," Elijah says.

Percy nods. "Of course," he says, walking to the balcony and letting out a loud, piercing taxi whistle. Within seconds, two pegasi could be seen on the horizon, which was turning a red as the sun rose. _How long was I out?_ Elijah wondered.

A caramel colored pegasus landed on the balcony, while the black one hovered below. Percy turned to Elijah, gave a two fingered salute, and dove onto the back of the black pegasus, the both of them darting away at insane speeds.

"Alright, buddy," Elijah says softly to his pegasus. "We're gonna go to Olympus, okay?"

The horse gave out a huff and nodded his head, as if saying 'Yeah, yeah, now hurry up!' and Elijah climbed on the back, and off they sped to Olympus.

After asking for directions, and a couple wrong turns, Elijah found himself at this magical forge between Hephaestus's and Ares's palaces. He was supposed to stand in an archway that would scan him, everything from his height to his godly parenthood, and pump out armor and a weapon in whatever substance is most compatible. There are a lot more metals than the Celestial Bronze that every demigod can use, but not every demigod can utilize them as efficiently as another might. For example, a child of Hades would be able to use Stygian Iron stuff better than an Apollo kid, but they'd wield Imperial Gold better, themselves. At least, that's what he has been able to understand, thus far. He was curious what kind of metal he'd get.

He stepped under the arch and waited as a red light scanned him. The arch beeped, and the forge roared to life, soon pumping out arms and armor resembling that of Ancient Sparta's. First, was a helmet, minus the plume, and it was solid black, with silver trim. The next to come out was the breastplate with the same silver on black color scheme. Then the greaves, followed by braces. Lastly was a sword, a _xiphos_ , with a silver blade. The phrase _'to spathí tou melaniou'_ was inscribed on one side of it, while its English translation, 'The Sword of Ink', was on the other. To top off, the sword had a black pommel and guard, and the hilt was wrapped in a dark leather.

He strapped on the armour, it fitting absolutely perfectly, seemingly weightless and completely non restrictive when it came to movement. He gave a little smirk, sliding his new sword into its place, and climbed back onto the horse.

"Would you mind taking me down to Brooklyn Bridge? I'll make sure Percy gets you whatever snack you want, when we're out of this mess," he said to his horse, and they took off into the orange sky of early morning.


	8. Not Dead Yet

Elijah touched down just outside the courthouse, dismounting and patting his pegasus's flank as he approaches the makeshift base, freaking out Lanie, who was standing guard. She instinctively drew and fired an arrow at Elijah, which broke once it hit his breastplate, staggering him.

He threw his hands up in a 'don't shoot' fashion, and called out, "Hold your fire! It's Elijah!"

She cursed under her breath as she lowered her bow. "Sorry, Eli! We all thought you were dead. 'nd, that new armour you've got isn't exactly friendly-lookin'," she called to him, jogging out to meet him.

"Nope. I'm very much alive, and ready to win this war," he says with a smile.

"Great," Lanie says, grinning. "Head on in. But I'd suggest removing the helm."

"Alright. Thanks."

Elijah heads in after removing the helmet, nonchalantly striding into the lobby, quickly noting the time. 7:03 AM. He walks up to Alex, who was still looking after some kids, despite the bandage on his arm and medical tape on his nose.

"Hey, who'd you guys put in charge after me?" he asks.

"J-James is in charge, now. He's in the security room, still trying to access the security feed," Alex replies, caught off guard at the sight of the presumed dead soldier.

"Thanks. By the way, you're doing amazingly," Elijah says, before walking off to the room he'd previously met James.

He poked his head into the room, and saw pieces of paper strewn around the room, and the wall had a dent in it. The teen he was looking for was sitting in an office chair, glaring at the computer that had the decryption program open, but, other than that, wasn't doing anything with it.

"Still having trouble?" Elijah asked, startling James.

"Wha-? Oh, yeah," he replied, turning to see who it was, then shrugging it off and returning to studying the screen, unmoved by the sudden appearance of Elijah.

"I didn't get to try my hand, earlier. Mind if I have a go?"

"Knock yourself out," James said, standing and stretching. "I could use a nap, anyway. Or a coffee."

"Alright. Have yourself a nap. It'll help for tonight," Elijah said, patting James softly on the back as to not knock him over.

He raised his arm in a joking salute. "Aye aye, Cap'n." James started towards the doors. "Oh!" he exclaimed, turning on his heel. "Before I go, I've got your sword in here. It's hidden, in case one of the Hermes kids thinks it's better than his own sword. Want me to get it? I know how much you like it."

"Um… No. You can keep it for yourself. It's a good blade, and will save your hide if you take care of it."

James looked shocked. "A-Are you sure?"

"Yup. I've got cooler toys, now."

"Okay… I'll get it tonight," James said, still slightly apprehensive.

"The sword is called Lepída, so you know."

"Lepída? You named your sword 'sword'?" He's laughing.

"Shaddup," Elijah says, but he's smiling, as well. "I had it for a while, and it was a very good blade. Served me well, and fit perfectly in my hands, so I thought a name was in order."

"Just not a creative one."

"Just go take your damned nap." Elijah shooed James from the room.

"Whatever you say, Boss. Oh, and good to have you back."

Elijah was already working on cracking the code, and James left before he could acknowledge he said something.

Elijah's first tactic was to just go at it. He wasn't experienced in hacking, but how hard could it be?

He failed instantly.

Next, he tried to go off of James's notes. Which he immediately regretted attempting; it looked like it was written by a drunken chicken suffering from a case of the shakes.

His father's words came back to him concerning the pen. '…magical properties that allow it to do extraordinary things.' He thought why not give it a try. If only he could get to it. All the armour is in the way.

He started the long and familiar process of removing his armour, when he found that, to his shock, there was no fastenings. He tried to pull the armour off, but to no avail. He walked to a mirror on the wall and tried to see if there was anything that could help.

The only thing he saw was him. Nothing of use. Just his armour. Smooth, black and silver. Right at his sternum was a silver design.

He took a double take. He hadn't remembered that. He walked closer to the mirror to see what the design was. It was one of those old drama masks. Out of curiosity (and desperation), he touched it. Instantly, the armour began to shrink and compress, going to the design. Even the helmet, which was still on the desk, came over and was absorbed. Eventually, Elijah stood, the only thing left was his clothes, his new sheathe and sword, and a leather necklace, not unlike his camp one, with a gold coin hanging from it. He looked down at it, and saw the same mask design imprinted on it.

"Cool," he thought aloud. "Now for the pen…"

He reached in his pocket and took out the black and silver fountain pen. It looked pretty ordinary. He uncapped it and nothing happened. He saw a lever on the side, where he'd press to shoot out and refill ink, and flipped it. Instead of ink shooting out, the pen turned into a silver dagger with a blade about ten inches long, and a handle that fit in his hand just perfectly, with enough pommel sticking out to break someone's nose.

"Alright, now how to put it back…" he wondered.

After a minute of searching, he found a small sliver of a lever tucked under the guard, and pulled it. Next thing he knew, he's holding a pen again.

"Okay, what else can you do…?"

He had a hunch, and unscrewed the tip. On the other side, was a USB plug.

"Perfect!" he exclaimed, and plugged it into the computer.

The computer blinked, before a text box came up. It read, 'What would you like me to do?' and had a section for a typed response.

Elijah grinned and typed, 'Hack security footage'.

A second passes, and the security feeds are shown on the screen.

Another box appeared. 'Now what would you have me do?'

Elijah, no longer finding need for it, since the task is complete, attempts to yank the pen from the computer.

That box closes, and is replaced. 'One does not simply yank without ejecting… What would you have me do?'

Elijah sighs and types, 'Eject', and the box closes. The pen then is ejected out of the drive as if it's being pushed. He takes it and screws it back into the body of the pen, capping it and putting it back in his pocket.

Once he looks up, he grins like a madman. He accessed the live footage. Granted, several cameras were out, but any camera angle is useful.

He yawns, and is reminded of his words of wisdom to take a nap. So he goes down, informs Alex, because he didn't know who else to, about the hacked footage, and heads off to the beds for a nap. All the comfiest chairs were already taken, and there was one couch free. He throws himself in it, falling asleep instantly.

* * *

 _Late, I know. But I was... preoccupied, yesterday. Anyway, thanks for reading, and all that._

 _~SoA_


	9. When Pigs Fly

He woke to Alex shaking his arm awake. He stirred slowly, but quickly adjusted to consciousness. He was aware of the setting sun streaming through the western windows, bathing the inner courthouse in a fiery glow. He sat up, shaking off the remaining grips of sleep.

"How's everything?" Elijah asks tiredly, his voice not yet cooperating.

"Nightfall's coming. We've got about an hour, but we need every one who can fight on their feet and ready when it does. Who knows what's in store for us, tonight."

"Alright. What's the time?" he asks as he stands, stretching his arms.

"Just past seven."

Elijah cracks his stiff neck. "Is James awake?"

"Yeah. He's monitoring the security feeds. Great job, by the way."

"Thanks. I'm gonna go up to him, then I'll head down and start patrol," he says, motioning Alex away, who goes to wake another passed out Camper.

Elijah tiredly trudges up the stairs to the security room. With every step, he wakes more and more. He finally finds himself outside the security room door, which he opens.

"Any activity?" Elijah asks James, who's leaning lazily back in his office chair, both feet on the desk.

"Not really. But I've figured out how to play with all the controls, which bites back the boredom."

"We're gonna need you to armour up for tonight. I'm sure you can find someone who isn't too terribly injured to hold the fort here."

"How did you get in? I didn't think you had that experience," James asks, sort of changing the subject.

"I've got a few tricks of my own up my sleeve." He's not exactly lying, but maybe telling that his father is an outcast primordial with the power to get in anywhere might not be a good idea.

"Maybe you can show me sometime," James asked hopefully.

"A magician never reveals his tricks."

"But he does if he has an apprentice."

"Have you taken my sword, yet?" Elijah asked, changing the subject before it got to ' _Why not?_ '

"Not yet, no. I wasn't sure if I was hearing correctly," James replied, mentally noting the change in subject, but going with it.

"Well, you were. It's now yours. You can have it. Are you going to get someone, or should I send someone up? I want you on patrol with me. Everyone who can needs to be out there."

James told Elijah to send someone on his way out so that Elijah could be out ASAP, and James could have time to retrieve _Lepída_ and armour up. He nodded and sent up Angie, a more recent addition of the Hermes Cabin, on his way out. She had a gash going down her thigh, and Alex told her she'd be better sitting tonight out.

The sun was set, but the sky was still a-blaze with oranges and purples, with pink undertones. Elijah was leaning against the pillar, fully clad in his black and silver armour. He's been standing out for the past fifteen minutes, by his guess, and the door opened and closed. James made his way to Elijah, decked in his Celestial Bronze armour. His discomfort, caused by the awkward feel of the heavy armour, could be seen on his face.

They regarded each other, and James sat on one of the steps. Five minutes later, a loud, high pitched screech rose from... everywhere. It sounded like it was far away, but it's direction was uncertain, because it echoed throughout the city and off the buildings. James shot up, his hand going to Lepída, but Elijah waved him off.

"We're too small to hit with something that big. If they've got a creature that large on standby, they wouldn't send it after the Brooklyn Bridge. More likely it's attacking more important places, closer to Olympus," he explained.

That calmed James down, some, but didn't help when the beast screeched again.

"Did that sound closer, to you?" he asked. Elijah could hear the nervousness in his voice.

"We're completely fine, now just keep a look out." His whining was getting on Elijah's nerves.

A couple minutes later, the beast screeched particularly loud.

"Eli..." James started, nervous once again. "There's something coming..."

"For the last time, we ar-" Elijah began, before being interrupted by a large, pink, flying pig crashing from between two buildings, screeching loudly, and a giant bronze statue (Hermes, if the robe and winged staff is anything to go by) hanging under it, climbing up a cable. Darting swiftly around the hooves was a black pegasus, desperately trying not to get kicked out of the sky.

"Yeah, we're totally safe. Nothing will ever bother us," James said under his breath.

"Because it's totally my fault for not expecting a giant flying pig to attack!" Elijah replied with equal sarcasm.

"The only thing that would've been worse is if you said 'When pigs fly!'"

"Just calm down and look!" Elijah almost shouted, mentally questioning why he had insisted on bringing this sarcastic child with him. "The pig isn't attacking. Jackson and Blackjack've got it handled."

"What makes you say it's Percy? You can't see that far, and it's moving too fast, anyway."

"It's his pegasus. Pure black. And it looks like our patron is taking it out, now."

The Statue of Hermes had climbed onto the pig's back, and is beating it over the head with his staff. Soon enough, the pig flew away, rapidly descending as it did.

A muffled sound filled the air. A phone's vibrate, and a tune that wanted desperately to be heard. Elijah sighed and rolled his eyes, his ears turning slightly red as the Mission Impossible theme played from his pocket under his armour. He adjusted the armoured kilt to reach his pockets, and dug out his Celestial Bronze phone.

"Hello?" he said into the phone once it was to his ear.

"Good, Elijah," Annabeth said from her side, letting out a sigh of relief. "You need to fall back to Central Park. We've got a base set up there, and we need you to help set up a perimeter."

"Alright. But what about our wounded?" he asked.

After a second of silence, Annabeth said, "Hold on." Then almost a minute. "We're sending some pegasi, along with a medical chariot we found in Apollo's palace. They can help transport and care. Think ancient ambulance. That'll take your wounded to Olympus so they can be taken care of."

"Alright," Elijah said. "See you in the wild," he finished, hanging up and stuffing the phone away.

"What was that about?" James asked.

Elijah looked at him, excited from the prospect of getting some more action reflecting in his eyes. "We've got some new orders."


	10. Relocation

For the next ten minutes, or so, James and Elijah helped break down the makeshift base and prepare the wounded for transport. Those who didn't need medical attention -Devon and Travis- had left, leaving Alex -who was prepping the injured- and the breakdown team, and were already on their way to Central Park.

At the courthouse, there were five or so injured, two of which were completely incapacitated. The plan was to take those incapacitated in the medical chariot, then fill the remaining space with the rest, the more severely injured taking priority. Those left would be escorted by James and Elijah, since Alex was going to ride in the chariot. They didn't know how much room was on the chariot, so they had to assume not much. The low expectations would help prepare plans for both instances.

After about five minutes, the pegasi could be seen making their decent, carrying a large white chariot behind them.

"Alright, Alex. You guys ready?" Elijah asks.

"Yeah," he replied, rolling out the incapacitated form of John, James close behind him with Marshal, the other one who was in the worst shape.

The pegasi land and the driver, a creature almost elvish in appearance, drops down.

"How many can fit in there?" Elijah asks while Alex and James start to take their people to the back.

"As many as you need," the 'elf' replied, motioning for Elijah to follow him so they can get the remaining three.

Lanie stands when Elijah and the elf enter, wincing slightly due to her leg, which had a lot of gauze wrapped around her upper left thigh. She grabs her makeshift cane that she made out of the hilt of a battleaxe whose owner she'd fallen with a large arrow in her leg, the wound oozing a nasty green substance, and limps toward the door. It had already been decided she was highest priority of the remaining injured, but she can be Ares-level stubborn, and insists she can walk.

"It's just outside. The white chariot. I think the others might still be working on fastenings and whatnot," Elijah says as she passes, and she nods in acknowledgement.

That left Angie, whose gash reopened and worsened when she insisted she help breakdown, and Jeremy, whose arm was broken because he hoped a shield would protect him from a cyclops. It did, but he didn't think about the sheer force the blow.

The elf escorted Angie, while Elijah walked with Jeremy. As they approached the white and gold chariot, Elijah noticed a warm power emanating from it. He felt warm, but comfortably so. His leg, which had cramped like crazy when breaking down the 'base', relaxed, and a wave of calm washed over him.

The inside of the transport part of the chariot was way bigger than it looked. It held enough beds and more than the demigods actually needed, so everyone could ride in it without getting in the way. Once everyone was strapped in and ready to go, the elf went back outside to drive. The passengers could hear the crack of his whip, but never even felt a jolt as they took to the air. There must have been serious enchantments to let it to fly so smoothly.

Within minutes, the group made it to Olympus. Elijah noted the time, 11:43 PM, before helping the passengers out. Lanie walked with a slightly less limp, Angie's gash had closed, and Jeremy was rotating his shoulder, despite warnings against it. Too much stress and whatnot would re-injure what the magic had worked to heal.

A few minutes later, James was sipping a glass of nectar, sitting on the edge of Olympus, his feet swinging hundreds of feet above New York. Elijah walked up behind him, and sat next to him, his own glass in hand.

"We'll be leaving in a couple minutes," Elijah said as he took a drink of his nectar.

"Alright," James replied, standing up and stretching.

"Gotta hand it to these immortals, they've got one helluva view, huh?" Elijah said, doing the same.

"Oh, totally. The question is, do they truly appreciate it?"

"Probably not. Anyway, let's hit the stables; we've gotta get to Central Park."

"Aye-aye, Captain," James said, and they left to the pegasus stables.

* * *

 _Ten chapters down, six to go. We're coming close to the close. Guess as a warning/heads up.  
~SoA_


	11. Not-So-Friendly Woodland Magic

The two were circling over Central Park. Alex had opted to stay behind in Olympus to assist with the injured, along with anything else that might need him. Elijah and James were looking for anything that might indicate the demigod army's presence. Then, near the reservoir, they saw two armies.

One seemed to rally behind a column of light, while the other side was just joined together, no identifiable leader present.

"What's that light?" James asked.

"How am I supposed to know?" Elijah retorted.

"No need to get upset... I was just asking."

"Let's get a little lower, but not too close; we don't want to be in range of any ranged anything," Elijah suggested, prompting his pegasus to do similarly.

"Very specific," James muttered as he followed suit.

"Do we have a flag?" Elijah asked James when he got to his level.

"We might. Why?"

"The light side has a flag. All I can see from up here is purple."

"I don't think purple is us. Remember Annabeth's moon-shield? The telka-whatsits had a purple flag with Kronos's symbol."

"Then let's land on the other side. Not too close, though; don't want the other side to try the obvious targets of us," Elijah said, and James nodded.

The two descended behind the ranks. Just as their horses touched down, the park roared to life. Satyrs, dryads, and demigods were rushing around the reservoir, while the monsters and demigods of Kronos's army were rushing around their side. Elijah noted the column of light, which he could now see as an armoured man, and a demigod, presumably Percy Jackson, walking towards each other on the surface of the water.

"C'mon, James! We can't let them have the fun without us!" Elijah called, but turned to see nothing there.

He shrugged, and filed in with the demigods and satyrs, tapping the pendant, which equipped his new armour, and held his sword sheathe to keep it from bouncing.

 _Time to test out my new outfit..._ he thought to himself.

Soon enough, the armies clashed. Just before they did, Elijah unsheathed his blade, and prepared to strike at whatever was about to be in front of him.

His silver blade was met by a Celestial Bronze one. The demigod holding it had hate in his eyes as he pulled his sword back to strike again.

Elijah, on full auto-pilot, stabbed the kid in the gut, before punching him aside so he could move to the next fighter.

Soon enough, he found himself completely surrounded by monsters and demigods. His fighting had taken him away from the line and into the enemy's ranks. He cursed to himself and prepared to fight whatever came next.

A demigod ran at him, sword raised and shield lowered to allow full motion. However, it also allowed Elijah to sidestep and slice through the demigod's lower stomach, a weak point in the armour.

As he did that, several monsters and demigods came to fight Elijah at once. He grimaced and went full defensive.

"Looks like you've gotten yourself into some trouble," he heard a voice call, but was focused on trying not to die to pay it much attention.

Next thing he knows, there's a shadow over him, and monsters and demigods are getting whipped by blurs. He takes a second to look up, seeing James on his pegasus, which is kicking heads while James slashes at monsters with _Lepída_.

"I've got it under control," Elijah mockingly protested as he runs his blade through a dracanae, smirking to himself.

"Right, and you weren't just inches from being monster chow."

"Correct. Now, let me on; we should probably get back before you get yourself hurt."

"Clear a few, and I'll think about it."

"As long as you help, it shall be done." Elijah paused for a second for a mock bow, quickly deflecting a blow while James's pegasus nailed the demigod with a kick to the temple, knocking him out.

Within minutes, Elijah was riding behind James on the pegasus back to friendly lines. Suddenly, the pegasus was knocked sideways by a strong gust of wind. Elijah fell off, but they were flying close enough to the ground that it didn't do damage.

Elijah picked himself up, groaning, and looked up. James was nowhere to be seen, but the strong winds forced him to squint. Wait... Strong winds? It was just as beautiful night as any, take away the war.

He looked around, and saw that the Ray of Sunshine and Percy were duelling on the surface of the reservoir. Except, the light, whatever it was, couldn't get close to Percy, because he had his own personal hurricane that threw the armoured warrior back any time he'd try to get close. Percy shouted something Elijah couldn't hear, but the satyrs and dryads were soon racing towards the shore, where Percy was leading the man.

Within the next few minutes, Elijah saw the most terrifying display of woodland magic he'd ever imagined. While the man struggled, the satyrs and dryads danced around him, playing music or waving their arms, and slowly, very slowly, a trunk grew around his ankles. Then, his arms were seemingly forced into a Y, and they grew many feet long, sprouting leaves on the ends. He was shouting something to Percy, who had strolled right in front of him as a trunk continued to grow around and in him, before bark grew over what left of his face, and he was no more.

Elijah was standing still, shell shocked and terrified. However, he couldn't for long; he saw a few monsters and demigods that needed to be mopped up, so he went to do just that. Most of the demigods surrendered, but the monsters needed a bit of convincing. He took the prisoners back to friendly lines, where another demigod took them off to wherever they were putting prisoners.

* * *

 _Yeah, I always thought this scene was pretty brutal. Anyway, Yours Truly is now on YouTube! The channel title is , and I've only got one video up, so far. That'll change soon, though, hopefully.  
~SoA_


	12. Interlude

He met up with James, who was tending to his pegasus.

"Great driving, Maverick," Elijah said sarcastically.

"Well, let's see you fly a living creature in a hurricane. After all, I'm sure it shouldn't be too difficult," James shot back. "Glad you made it," he said after a bit.

"What can I say? Thanatos doesn't seem to want me, today. Think you could ferry me to the base?" he said.

"I don't know. Spirit, here, is pretty tired. You can walk, can't you?"

"Alright. I see how it is. Favouring equine-avian mixes over your fellow demigod."

"Nah. You just look like need the exercise," James said with a smirk, before dodging Elijah's smack.

Elijah sighed. "Fine. But if I die of exhaustion, it's your fault," he said, before walking off to the hotel base.

When he got there, he collapsed his armour, before collapsing, himself, onto a free spot on a couch, and passed out shortly thereafter.

* * *

 _Sorry for the short chapter. It really looked longer on the document, I promise. But we're coming up on the end. 12 down, 3 to go.  
~SoA_


	13. It's Raining Man (slightly graphic)

_Before I start, I need to warn you. This chapter gets really nasty later on. Gorey nasty. Not for the faint of heart or stomach.  
_ ~SoA

* * *

He woke to a voice shouting.

"Fall back!" it said. "Fall back to Olympus for regrouping!"

He shot up, full of panic. Why are they retreating? Were they under attack? Was Olympus? All these thoughts rushed through his mind as he picked up his discarded sheathe and strapped it on before running with the other demigods. Turns out, there was no time for formation, and they just ran to Olympus. Some kids, namely Hermes campers, hot wired and drove carloads of demigods to Olympus. Elijah hitched a ride with Connor.

When they got to Olympus, Percy was shouting orders. Just basic perimeter stuff. It was a tight one, though.

The sun had set. Morpheus' sleeping spell was lifted. The earth shook as a magical barrier created by none other than Lord Kronos, himself had surrounded the Empire State Building. The Titan had pushed his way through to the doors, and made it up to Olympus, Ethan Nakamura shortly behind him. Soon after they passed, Percy, Annabeth, and Thalia Daughter of Zeus and Hunter of Artemis went through the doors after the arrival of Hades, himself, and an undead army to help defend Olympus. Elijah? He was blown aside by Kronos when he passed, knocking him into the side of a building with enough force to knock over an elephant. His armour took most of the blow, but he was knocked out.

When he came to, he had the absolute worst headache, and his limbs felt sluggish. He staggered to his feet, and stumbled around. There were bodies, living and dead, everywhere. There were many many piles of sulfuric dust that monsters leave behind. Skeletons dressed and armed with an assortment of different weapons from an assortment of different times and places were skirmishing with monsters of all sorts. A thin line of demigods stood behind them, ready to take out anything that might get past.

Elijah stumbled towards the line. His headache was excruciating and he was nauseated, but he was determined. However, he fell to his knees soon and spewed bile. When was the last time he ate anything? He couldn't remember.

After collecting his breath, Elijah stood back up, with difficulty, and continued to stagger to the line. Eventually, he gave in and gave up, kneeling down, breathing and sweating heavily. He looked up, in an attempt to get more air, and he heard a faint screaming. Soon, a flailing figure could be seen falling from ungodly high, and gaining speed. Eventually, the person stopped screaming and flailing, presumably passing out. Then, splat! The body fell fifteen feet from where Elijah was sitting.

He crawled over to identify the body. There wasn't much intact. It was messy. Like a person sized watermelon fell and exploded. What he did see was an eyepatch, but nothing familiar about the person. But he guessed it wasn't Percy due to said eyepatch.

* * *

 _Okay, I'll admit, it wasn't as bad as I thought/remembered. But it still wasn't exactly a fun image. Also, the chapter after this is the last extremely short one, so you're aware. And this story is concluded at chapter sixteen; we're getting close.  
~I'm still SoA_


	14. Toilet of the Gods

There was a roar, and Elijah turned to see the most terrifying creature he'd ever seen. It was easily as tall as most of the buildings around him, and had a personal hurricane around him. But, where Percy's was small yet powerful, this... monster's was huge; Elijah was having a hard time standing, the winds were so strong, and most of its body was hidden by clouds. And there were flashes of light around the creature, which was swatting at them. His size slowed his blow, but it was still something that isn't advisable to be in front of.

The hairs on the back of Elijah's neck stood to attention as a huge lightning bolt streaked the sky, seemingly originating from one of the flashes of light. The huge creature staggered a bit, before continuing its charge.

Just as it stepped into the Hudson to get through, the river roared to life. A giant whirlpool opened up at its feet, while another flash rose from the depths, followed by an army of dots from Elijah's angle. Lines soon streaked across the creature, and dragged it down into the whirlpool, like some ginormous toilet.

Mere minutes later, Elijah was being tended to by a nature spirit. She was spoon-feeding him ambrosia, and he was slowly regaining his motion back, but he still had a killer headache. After almost burning up from the amount of godly food the spirit was feeding him, she went to go help other injured, and Elijah passed out shortly thereafter.

* * *

 _Yes, I know it's short. And I'm kinda sorry. But, we're wrapping up. The next two chapters are also extremely short, as well, but they conclude the story.  
~SoA_


	15. Scribe On Olympus

The Olympians had given Percy his wish. They would, from now on, pay more attention to their children, and allow minor gods cabins. They were grumbling over some minor thing or another, as usual, and boasting of exaggerated acts.

Zeus was in the middle of explaining how he's the true hero of the day, when they all felt a disturbance in the throne room; another presence, not Olympian, and not demigod. Zeus trailed off, a look of unease passing his face.

Suddenly, a man materialized in front of the door, seemingly out of shadow, and started walking to the thrones. He was clad in black: black button shirt, black suit, black pants, and black shoes. He was adjusting his sleeve as he walked into the middle of them.

"Lord Zeus!" the man dramatically called out, bowing low. "I humbly request an audience!"

"What do you want, Momus?" Zeus growled indignantly.

"Aside from a kinder reaction? I mean, I've only been gone some five millennia," the primordial said, mocking heart ache.

"Out with it, Writer!"

"Fine. Geez. I want my children a spot in your Camp. Their own cabin, no persecution, you know. Like what you did with Hades," he requested.

"Absolutely not! You're insufferable and we won't allow you back!"

"That's not what I asked. I just want my kids allowed in your Camp, and no hate from you," he said, saying it slowly. "Now, before you argue that my children don't deserve a spot in your Camp, I've prepared a rebuttal. My two sons currently residing in the Hermes Cabin have, to put it informally, kicked some serious monster ass, these past couple days. Drove back the monsters from Brooklyn, and even earning the Blessing of Ares. Without them, Brooklyn probably would have fallen, and the other demigods would have failed."

"Is it true?" Zeus asked Ares.

"I may have subconsciously blessed the Cabin. They were fighting valiantly, so I just kinda took care of it," Ares said. "Either that, or the 'other one' did it."

"Fine," Zeus conceded. "But we're keeping an eye on them. Primordial demigods sound like a recipe for disaster."

"As long as get them their own cabin, and don't keep them on the watchlist too long."

"Are you leaving, yet?" Zeus asked.

"One last thing... Can I get my masque, back?"

"When Greece and Rome get along. Now, out!"

"Alright, alright, I'm leaving. By the way, you should trim your beard. It'll make you look more kingly, and less ragged," the primordial said, before melting into the shadows, disappearing.

* * *

 _Short, yes, but I'm compensating with another chapter immediately after this one.  
~SoA_


	16. That's A Wrap!

At Camp, the demigods were mourning the dead. Most were in casts, slings, or other various medical gear. They were gathered at the amphitheater, the fire burning bright. Chiron gave a speech to the kids, before letting them do as they please. Some went back to rest. Some went to the beach. Most stayed behind to pay respects to their friends.

James stayed behind. He hadn't lost anyone, but he still wanted to pay respects to the fallen dead. His arm was in a sling and he was exhausted, but he felt it appropriate. As he was sitting, his head bowed, definitely not nodding off at all, something appeared above his head. The holographic 'icon' of claiming. It was black, with a silver-tipped quill. It was the mark of Momus.

* * *

 _So that's it! The Battle of Manhattan is officially done, and its sequel is set up. Feels weird, now, though. Like, yay, it's done, but a kind of "what not" kind of thing, too.  
Anyway, you guys will just have to wait until it's sequel is done to hear from me, again. Unless you wish to contact me, that is. Feel free to PM me whenever for more personal feedback, requests for upcoming fics, or just to chat!  
~SoA_


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